In the battle of The Blocks, it’s Australia all the way.
There’s a lot of things New Zealand does better than Australia: Rugby Union (obviously), choosing prime ministers and evolving non-poisonous creepy crawlies for example. But, when it comes to home makeover shows, The Block Australia has us beaten at every turn. Here are six things The Block Australia does better:
The host
One of the things that drew people to The Block Australia in the first place was its charismatic host Scott Cam (Scotty). Scotty is a likeable host whose personality matches the cheery, upbeat tone of the show. He is also a qualified carpenter, so fits right in on a building site. He’s the kind of guy you could imagine running into in the car park of a hardware store or down at your local pub.
The Block NZ’s host, former cricket player Mark Richardson, is the polar opposite of Scotty and it baffles me why he was chosen in the first place. Not only does he not appear to know the first thing about building, but his controversial public persona just doesn’t fit with the show’s bright and bubbly tone.
The actual renovation
An irritating thing about The Block NZ is that it’s no longer a renovation show. In 2012, season one kicked off with teams remodelling tired bungalows in Takapuna. Fast forward six years and, thanks to Auckland’s ridiculous housing market, we’re now watching teams fit out new builds in a new subdivision in a new town at Hobsonville Point.
One of the best parts of the Australian show is watching teams transform former warehouses or rundown apartment buildings with challenging holes in the floor into unrecognisable, beautiful family homes.
There’s probably a practical reason why The Block NZ’s producers chose to let the teams simply fill in the gaps of a new build, but one of the real pleasures of earlier seasons was tuning in to see teams renovate a shabby space and feeling inspired to make improvements (big or little) to your own home.
Now it seems hardly any attention is paid to the building on this side of the Tasman, and that is to the show’s detriment.
The design
When it comes to design, The Block Australia contestants leave ours in the dust. The
spaces they create are not only cohesive and sellable, they are also filled with unique pieces new owners might actually want to keep.
Unfortunately, most of the houses from past seasons on our show look like something discovered down a Pinterest wormhole. They’re filled with clashing colours, over-styled living rooms and the same old Freedom furniture.
Our poor contestants are at a bit of a disadvantage though. They have a far smaller budget than their Aussie peers and seem to have no choice but to shop at stores that sponsor the show. On the other hand, the teams across the ditch are let loose on the best design stores Melbourne has to offer.
The drama
New Zealand’s Amy Moore might be getting a bad rap this season for playing a few mind games and making a few snide comments, but compared to some former Block Australia contestants she’s an angel.
In one episode of the latest season of The Block Australia there was a car crash; one team got into an expletive-riddled screaming match with their builder; and another team threw down their tools and threatened to quit the show. Now that’s what I call entertaining telly. Someone fetch the popcorn.
We all know that Kiwis are a pretty laid-back bunch – a beer and a round of backyard cricket, anyone?
The thing is, being chilled just doesn’t make for a good watch. Where’s the drama? This is entertainment, after all.
Mark Richardson is the polar opposite of Scotty and it baffles me why he was chosen in the first place.
The challenges
A recent episode of the Australian show saw the teams makeover rooms at a Ronald McDonald House. Back here in New Zealand, our contestants raced marbles for a game changer. Enough said.